Mind Games
by Obsidian3
Summary: Rather than talking to paintings, after Elsa shut her out, Anna took to playing with her invisible friend, Mara. Only, as she grew up, Mara didn't go away.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: _Frozen _and all recognizable characters are owned by Disney. (Though I'm pretty sure you all knew that, already. ^_^ )

Summary: Rather than talking to paintings, after Elsa shut her out, Anna took to playing with her invisible friend, Mara. Only, as she grew up, Mara didn't go away.

* * *

It was so... quiet.

5-year-old Anna was quickly finding that she couldn't _stand _the silence. It was only the first night after Elsa had moved out, and it was already too much for her to bear. How long was she going to be expected to endure this? When she'd asked how long Elsa would be gone, Mama and Papa had uncomfortably danced around answering, to the point where even Anna had realized that she wasn't going to BE coming back.

There had been one or two half-hearted efforts to make this seem like a good thing. She didn't care that she'd be getting her own room, now, like a big girl. She didn't care that she now had twice as much room to store her toys and games. What good were those, when you had to play them alone?

Papa had finally declared the matter closed by proclaiming that, seeing as how Elsa would be Queen one day, she needed her own room to be able to study and practice. (Practice what, he hadn't said.)

Anna, for her part, had heard, "Your sister doesn't need you, anymore. She has an important future to prepare for, and you'd do nothing but get in her way."

She'd barely been able to eat her lunch that afternoon, knowing it was true. That Elsa hadn't shown up didn't help matters any. She'd spent most of the rest of the day wandering around in a daze. Elsa _had _come to dinner, but she'd sat as far away from Anna as she could get away with, and had refused to speak to her or even look at her, if she could possibly avoid it.

She must have done something wrong, but she had no idea what. What could she possibly have done to cause her loving, sweet, perfect sister to shut her out like that?

Well... Maybe she was just out of sorts from being made to move into her own room? Yes, that made sense, Anna decided. She'd give Elsa a little time to adjust - maybe even a whole day! - and then try again.

After all, it was Elsa. Of _course _she'd want to play!

* * *

"Go away, Anna!"

"Okay, bye..."

She'd been making excuses for Elsa's behavior for almost three weeks, now, and she was running out. The only thing she kept coming back to was the (misheard) declaration that she was nothing but a bother to her queen-to-be sister, now. She trudged back to her room, wondering what to do. She was too young to have lessons, and there were only so many games she could play by herself. She didn't know how to read, yet, and there wasn't anyone around who could read to her.

She hadn't noticed it at first, being too preoccupied with all matters Elsa-related, but she'd slowly begun realizing that the castle was becoming _much _more empty than it used to be. The most explanation she'd been able to get was that the missing staff had been "let go", but no one would tell her why. As a result, there were precious few servants around, and those that remained were far too busy taking up the slack from their missing colleagues to have time to play with the young princess... though playing with adults wasn't really what she wanted, either.

The gates were closed, now, too.

That, she _knew _was wrong. Aside from at night, maybe - she didn't get to stay up late enough to know for sure - the gates were _always _open. Or they had been, anyway. No one would tell her why _that _had changed, either, yelling at her if she pushed the subject.

Heading into the village to play with the children there, then, was entirely out of the question.

"I don't get it," she said with a pout as she shut the door to her room, dropping to the floor in the middle of the room and drawing her knees up under her chin. "What did I do wrong?"

_Oh, Anna... _a girl's voice sighed from nowhere. _You didn't do anything wrong._

Anna nearly fell over backward in shock. "Wh-?"

_Can you finally hear me? _the voice asked, becoming excited. _I've been trying to get your attention for __**weeks**__, now._

Anna shot to her feet, looking around her room, eyes wide with fright. Where was that voice _coming _from?

"Please don't be afraid," the voice - now more easily identifiable as coming from a young girl - said from near the foot of her bed. There hadn't been anyone standing there when she'd looked a second ago... but there was now. "I promise, I won't hurt you."

Anna stared.

The girl looked to be about her age, though a bit taller than she was, with curly, inky black hair, and eyes so dark they almost seemed to match. Her dress resembled Anna's own, only colored a dark gold rather than vibrant green. "Who...? Where...?"

"My name's Mara," she said shyly. "I'm here because you were wishing for a friend."

Anna clapped her hands, fear quickly changing to delight. She _had _been wishing that, but not out loud. "Why couldn't I see you?"

Mara smiled at her. "I'm invisible. Only _special _little girls can see me." That elicited a squeal of joy from Anna, who charged over to give her a hug. Mara's hug was stiff, but Anna was used to that from people who'd never been hug-attacked by a princess before, and she knew her new friend would get over that soon enough. The other girl felt warm, much warmer than Elsa... though, admittedly, a lot of people did.

Thinking about Elsa brought back the sting of her most recent rejection, but at least now she had something else to focus on. "You're magic?"

Mara's smile turned secretive. "Oh, Anna... The world is _full _of magic, if you know where to look for it."

Anna gasped in excitement. "Can we? Can we look?"

"Well... Maybe. First, though, perhaps a tour of the castle?"

That sounded just as good to her. "Okay!" she exclaimed, happy to share what she knew with her new friend.

* * *

The staff quickly became accustomed to the sight of the youngest princess happily wandering down the halls, carrying on a running conversation with absolutely no one.

The King and Queen, while initially troubled, played along with their daughter's games. Imaginary friends were hardly an uncommon thing for children her age, after all - Elsa had never had one because she'd already been spending most of her time with Anna when she was five - and given that they'd cut off all other options for friends, and Elsa refused to get anywhere near her sister until she'd managed to control her magic, they had no desire to return her to a state of boredom, loneliness, and misery.

Mara, as relayed by Anna, seemed to be a cheerful girl, generally willing to go along with whatever games Anna proposed... with some exceptions. She didn't like sneaking into the stables, objected when Anna tried to get into a swordfight with a wooden dummy in the guards' practice area (even though, as Anna was quick to point out, she was only armed with a stick), and put her foot down when Anna wanted to try climbing up onto the roof.

When they were alone, the King sometimes joked to his wife that Mara was Anna's long-dormant sense of self-preservation, finally given voice.

Despite offers by servants happy to play along if it meant seeing their princess smile, Anna never insisted a place be set for Mara at meals. Indeed, she initially had refused to speak of her then at all, as she hadn't wanted Elsa to feel she was being replaced. Even after everything, she hated the thought of hurting her sister's feelings.

As Elsa continued shutting herself away, though, her snubbing of her sister's attentions seemed to begin wearing Mara's patience - and temper - thin.

Neither of her parents were all that surprised. Dismayed, yes, but not surprised. Elsa, as far as Anna was concerned, was perfect. As such, Anna _couldn't _be angry with her. Having the feelings come from Mara instead made for a convenient method of venting. Exactly how healthy that was... Well, that was open for debate. Still, Anna was only a little girl.

She was bound to grow out of this phase eventually.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: _Frozen _and all recognizable characters are owned by Disney. (Though I'm pretty sure you all knew that, already. ^_^ )

Summary: Rather than talking to paintings, after Elsa shut her out, Anna took to playing with her invisible friend, Mara. Only, as she grew up, Mara didn't go away.

* * *

_**Ten Years Later**_

It was a strange experience, having both of her parents gone at the same time.

It wasn't the first time either the king or the queen had gone away for a time. The gates may have been closed, but that didn't mean Arendelle could cut itself off from the rest of the world completely. It wasn't all that uncommon for either her father or her mother to be away for a few days, even a week or two at a time. Anna didn't enjoy those times, especially - not that she really thought they would abandon her, but the irrational thought kept poking at her now and then until they returned - but she could handle it. She'd learned not to interrupt when one of her parents was handling Official Kingdom Business, but after that was taken care of, whichever of them was still at home would happily welcome her attention, if only to distract themselves from how much they missed their spouse.

But this...

She supposed Elsa, for all that she continued to avoid having anything to do with her sister, must come out of her room more often than she'd suspected, as no one had been approaching her regarding any official decisions. Granted, she was only fifteen, and this was exactly the kind of situation they had a Prime Minister _for_, but with Elsa being the Heir, she couldn't imagine that her sister wouldn't at least be consulted.

In the meantime, she was continuing with her lessons. Mathematics, geometry, etiquette, history, international relations, music, dance, several different languages... Anyone who thought that being a Princess was easy, with no hard work involved at all, deserved to be hit, in Anna's opinion.

On the head.

With the six-inch-thick copy of 'The Complete History of Arendelle' that was sitting on her desk, back in her bedroom.

Repeatedly.

At her request, Mara kept quiet during most of her lessons. It was hard enough for her to absorb such dry, boring facts without any distractions. (She did, on occasion, pipe up when she knew the answer to a question that Anna had forgotten.) Besides, she was fifteen, now, and it had been made clear to her that this meant she was too old for imaginary friends. (Correcting that Mara was _invisible _didn't seem to go over well.)

When she'd been twelve, her parents had sat her down and patiently explained that, while it was a normal phase that most children went through, it did have to stop, sooner or later. Mara, they told her apologetically, simply wasn't real.

Her reply of, "What's your point?" had just left them confused.

She knew there wasn't a real flesh-and-blood person named Mara running around the castle with her. Mara didn't eat anything, didn't get sick, was always awake whenever Anna herself was, and, these days, tended to be just a voice in her head, rather than the teenage girl that occasionally manifested whenever Anna _really _needed someone there with her.

That revelation, rather than reassuring her parents as she'd hoped, instead resulted in the first visitor to the castle that she knew of in over a decade: a doctor by the name of Johann Kurtz.

A clinical psychiatrist.

Rather than be happy that their daughter had someone - whether real or not - that could comfort her, play with her, and lessen the problems that came from not being allowed to make any friends her own age (or spend time with her sister), they worried that she was insane, that having Mara around meant something was _wrong _with her.

It was the first time she could remember experiencing real, definite, lasting _anger _at her parents.

She didn't know what he'd told them, but afterward he left, and nothing seemed to change. Nothing _ever _seemed to change. Her parents had been a bit more wary when asking about Mara, true, but aside from that, everything went on as it had before.

After that, she'd made a point of being careful not to talk to Mara where anyone could see her, or even mentioning her name. If they wanted to keep secrets from her, she'd reasoned, she'd keep a secret from them.

She was even careful not to mention Mara when she was talking to Elsa. Or to Elsa's door, rather. She so rarely encountered her sister in person, and Elsa so rarely replied when she tried to speak with her (aside from telling her to go away), that she'd begun associating the _door _with her sister more than anything else.

(This had lead, on one occasion, to a rather bizarre mental image of the door leaning against the throne, with a crown perched on one of the top corners, when she'd idly thought about what it would be like when Elsa eventually became Queen.)

She'd just finished her Spanish lesson for the day - and that was one subject she could happily say she was having no problems in - and sat down for lunch... alone. Really, it was a good thing she hadn't actually _expected _Elsa to start showing up at meals just because their parents were away. Still, it had only been a few days, and she was already tired of being the only one at the massive dinner table. When talking to Mara, she tended to keep her voice low, to avoid alerting Gerda, who was usually hovering somewhere nearby, waiting to take her dishes.

Not that she wouldn't have wanted to talk to Gerda herself, but... Well, it hadn't escaped her attention, over the years, that whatever the reasons that Elsa continually isolated herself were, the loyal servants that regularly interacted with her, such as Gerda and Kai, had to be in on it. Indeed, they deflected her inquiries almost as well as the King and Queen.

_I've told you before, you trust too easily._

"I know, I know..." she murmured under her breath as she ate a bite of chicken. She chewed and swallowed before adding, "I don't think I'm asking for much, am I?"

_Being open and honest isn't exactly something encouraged among royals, though, is it?_

"I suppose not." She sighed. "But that shouldn't extend to family. Not about something like this."

_Unless they agree with your tutors._

She flinched. Last week, she'd accidentally overheard a few of her instructors discussing her progress. They hadn't been overly impressed, especially in regard to Elsa's advancements. That Elsa was doing so well wasn't at all a surprise - especially with all the practicing she was supposedly doing - but she felt a measure of pride in her estranged sister, all the same. What had been a surprise - and a bad one, at that - was the term one of them had used in reference to her.

'The Spare.'

She'd hurried away before she was discovered - and before she started crying - Mara grumbling _very _unkind things about them the entire trip back to her room. It wasn't the first time she'd ever heard the words, but that didn't make it hurt any less, especially coming from people that she'd thought cared about her.

Admittedly, she'd left before she could tell if anyone had defended her or not.

_They're not important,_ Mara assured her. _We both know you're more than that, anyway._

"Thanks," Anna said softly, allowing herself a small smile. It quickly faded when Gerda cleared her throat behind her. Stifling a sigh, she turned in her seat. "What is it, G-" She broke off in surprise as she registered Gerda's appearance.

The woman was so pale she looked like she might pass out any second, and her eyes were red-rimmed, as if she'd been crying. "Princess, I... We have recieved news... from Corona."

She stopped breathing, a cold chill spreading throughout her body. She felt a hand grip hers underneath the table and squeezed back, not even caring what Gerda might have thought, if she saw it.

Her parents had gone to Corona for a wedding. Her Aunt and Uncle's long-lost daughter was marrying her longtime boyfriend, so of course they'd both had to go. She'd been invited along, but, despite wanting to meet her new (well, sort of new) cousin, Rapunzel, she'd stayed, not wanting to leave Elsa all alone.

(Whether Elsa appreciated this or not, she had no idea.)

"No..." she said by sheer reflex, feeling hollow.

"There was a storm. I'm afraid the ship was lost at sea. There were no survivors."

_Oh, Anna, I'm so sorry..._

"What... What do I...?" For the first time in her life, Anna was utterly at a loss for words. There was only one coherent thought in her mind. "...Elsa?"

_Oh, she won't be coming out of her room. You just watch._

"She... did not react well, Princess."

"But I need her!" Anna insisted, honestly not sure which of them she was replying to. She bolted out of her seat, dodging around a shocked Gerda, and raced for the stairs.

_You're wasting your time! _Mara sounded upset. _Ten years, now, she's been pretending you don't exist, rebuffing __**every**__ advance you've made. This is __**not**__ going to make a difference!_

"It has to!" Anna snapped back, skidding around the corner. "It just _has _to!"

_You don't __**need**__ her!_

"She's going to need _me_," Anna replied as she reached Elsa's door. In her haste, she screwed up her special knock, but didn't care. "Elsa? Elsa, it's me, Anna," she called.

Silence.

"Elsa, are you in there?" She wished there was some way to tell. The doorknob was locked, but she was fairly certain that Elsa locked it when she wasn't in there, too, if only to keep Anna from going in while she was gone and just waiting there for her. "Gerda just t-told me..." A pause. "Elsa, _please_..."

Silence.

Always, always silence.

To her credit, Mara didn't offer a single 'I told you so'.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: _Frozen _and all recognizable characters are owned by Disney. (Though I'm pretty sure you all knew that, already. ^_^ )

Summary: Rather than talking to paintings, after Elsa shut her out, Anna took to playing with her invisible friend, Mara. Only, as she grew up, Mara didn't go away.

* * *

The funeral was a quiet, grim affair.

It was held shortly after dawn, traces of the morning fog still lingering in the air. Anna stood, alone, between the two large, carved stones meant to serve as a monument to her parents. (Their bodies, obviously, had not been recovered.) She couldn't focus enough to understand a single word the priest was saying, but it didn't matter. She had no speaking part in all of this, only needed to be there to be put on display for the crowd of mourners.

Never mind that she was still mourning herself. She was only the Spare; she wasn't allowed the luxury of having emotions.

That was the worst part - Elsa hadn't come. Her sister _should _have been standing next to her, not leaving her there by herself. Anna hadn't missed the whispered comments when she'd been the only one to stand between the two stones; even the priest was far off to the side, making room for a princess who had never shown up.

Anna just kept her head down, gaze locked on the ground as she _willed _the horrible day to just _end_, already. It had only gotten started, though; there was still a Council meeting later on, to discuss Arendelle's future. Officially, her presence wasn't required there... but she had a sneaking suspicion that Elsa wouldn't show up for _that_, either.

_Not the best introduction to their future Queen that Arendelle could have_, Mara observed.

Anna allowed a humorless, nearly silent laugh. "I'll say," she muttered under her breath. The priest didn't pause in the Bible verse he was reading, but she was pretty sure he noticed. She didn't care. Maybe she would later, but for today, she just did **not** care. Let them catch her talking to herself. Let them think her grief had driven her (if only temporarily) insane. They could start calling her 'the Mad Princess of Arendelle', for all she cared!

More than ever before, she **needed** Mara today.

_You've still got me, _Mara assured her. _But don't burn your bridges behind you. Arendelle needs at least one princess who isn't useless when it comes to public events._

Anna didn't even have the energy to argue about that less than flattering view of her sister.

* * *

To her utter lack of surprise, Elsa did not attend the Council meeting.

She'd been forced to field a few inquiries as to her sister's location as the funeral procession had broken up. The Council had been far more blatant about it.

The only answer she'd had to give was, "Grieving." It hadn't gone over well. Mister Nordberg (she completely blanked on his first name), the Minister of Finances, had scowled at her and demanded, "Then why are you here, Your Highness?"

"Would you like me to leave?" she countered, anger igniting and finally giving her some energy to reply to the muttered accusations she'd been overhearing all morning. "Because I could. But I don't think you'd be able to get much of anything done without at least one of us here, now, would you?"

Henrik Lunde, the Trade Minister, hastened to assure her, "Not at all, Princess. I'm sure Anders will be able to take care of the day-to-day matters until Princess Elsa feels up to joining us." He cast an inquisitive look at the Prime Minister, who nodded.

"Of course."

"In the meantime, if you would care to be caught up on current events, Highness...?" Because no one could really even pretend that she'd been kept in the loop on Matters of State, foreign or domestic. She was just the silly, clumsy, goofy, _useless _Spare, after all.

Or _generally _useless, anyway, because **now** they needed her.

Her heart sank, though she tried hard not to let it show. She really had no real desire to sit there and be bored to tears, or strain to process and remember the mountain of information they were about to hit her with. She had to, though. The entire _point _of having a Spare was to have someone in charge when the Queen-To-Be wasn't around.

"Let's get started."

* * *

It was every bit as bad as she'd feared it would be, and then some.

It was late afternoon by the time she walked out of the Council chambers with every last shred of dignity and grace that she could muster. Had this been any other day, she would no doubt have drawn a number of surprised looks from the few servants she passed on the walk back to the Royal living quarters, who were unaccustomed to seeing the youngest princess displaying either of those things.

Today, though, they likely assumed that, in her grief, she simply didn't have the energy to dash about with her usual reckless enthusiasm.

They weren't entirely wrong.

She slowed when she drew near to Elsa's door, all the whispered comments she'd overheard and accusations she'd fielded and information she'd been beaten over the head with all vying for attention in her brain, until finally allowed herself to vent her frustration, angrily slamming her fist against the wood. She thought she heard, ever-so-faintly, a startled motion against the door. The realization that Elsa might well be _right there_, that close to her and still offering no comfort, no reasons for her growing absence, infuriated her all the more. "_**Elsa! **_Open this door!"

"...wh-? Anna...?"

"Yes, Anna! Your sister! You DO remember that you have one, right?!"

"...Anna, that isn't fair."

It was about the worst possible thing Elsa could have said to her.

"Fair? **Fair?!** You want to talk to **me **about-!" She broke off, taking a deep breath. Then, in a frighteningly calm and cool voice, continued, "Do you have any idea what my day has been like, thus far? First, there was the funeral, which you did not attend with me. And everyone _noticed _that you weren't there. They've been asking me about that all morning."

"Anna, I'm-"

"After that," Anna interrupted, "came the Council meeting. They wanted to know where you were, too. But don't worry, I was the good little Spare and took care of all that for you. You're the only one who needs to do any grieving, I guess."

Silence.

Somehow, despite thinking that there really wasn't anything Elsa _could _say to that, it only made her angrier. Despite her best efforts, some of that began seeping into her voice. "So I now know more than anyone likely ever felt I needed to about how this Kingdom is run. But don't worry, Mara made sure I was paying attention." Whether she'd wanted to be or not.

"...Mara?" A puzzled silence. Before Anna could explode at the thought that Elsa had been paying that little attention to what she'd said to the door over the years, her sister continued, "Wait, are you-? I thought you outgrew that years ago."

Some part of Anna knew that Elsa was only latching onto that part of what she'd said because she wasn't ready to handle the rest of it, yet. Anna's invisible friend was something she could understand, could deal with. The rest of her, however, clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white. "Mara's the only one who's _never left me_," she ground out, teeth clenched.

_Anna, I beg you, calm down,_ Mara quietly pleaded. _You know you'll never be alone as long as I'm here. You don't need to do this._

"Yes, I do!" Anna shot back, ignoring whatever pained sounds her sister might have made at her earlier observation. "This has gone on long enough!" She pounded on the door again. "Open up, Elsa! You don't get to hide from me, anymore! So help me, God, I will _break this door down _if you don't open it!"

There was a long moment of silence.

Then, quietly, almost unbelievably, the 'click' of the door being unlocked.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: _Frozen _and all recognizable characters are owned by Disney. (Though I'm pretty sure you all knew that, already. ^_^ )

Summary: Rather than talking to paintings, after Elsa shut her out, Anna took to playing with her invisible friend, Mara. Only, as she grew up, Mara didn't go away.

* * *

For a long moment, Anna remained motionless in front of the door.

Despite her demand, she honestly hadn't expected Elsa to... do it. To unlock the door for her, to let her in. For the first time in forever, to stop hiding.

Even now, part of her suspected it was a trick of some kind.

Well, she decided, there was one way to find out. She reached out and, slowly, turned the handle. The interior latch let go, and the door swung inward. She let out a breathless little laugh, commenting, "Huh, it opened." She shook her head. "That's a first."

Knowing Elsa could change her mind and slam the door shut on her again any moment, Anna pushed it open... and was hit in the face with a blast of freezing cold air.

It was enough to break past her mood, the cold so completely out of place that, for the first time since she'd been told about her parents' deaths, she felt something other than misery or anger: a mixture of curiosity and sheer bafflement. Was Elsa stockpiling blocks of ice in there, or something? Perhaps she'd finally found a use for the position of Royal Ice Master and Deliverer, a title that had officially existed since not long after the founding of Arendelle, but had rarely ever been filled. The last such person had held it... what, a century ago?

_One hundred and twenty years, five months, and sixteen days, to be exact._

It had become obvious to her years ago that, whatever part of her brain it was that remembered such useless trivia and dull laws, that was probably where Mara lived.

_Don't sell yourself short. Also, open door, remember?_

Anna shook her head. What was the matter with her? Elsa's door was actually **open** for once, and she was just standing there? She'd wanted this to happen for **years**. Pushing the door open, she strode boldly inside.

And stopped dead in her tracks, barely registering the door closing again behind her as she stared at her surroundings in wide-eyed amazement.

Elsa's chambers had been transformed into a winter wonderland.

Ice patches were here and there on the floor and walls, with beautiful filigree patterns of frost covering the rest of the walls and windows. An occasional snowflake drifted down from... She looked up in confusion. From nowhere, it seemed, though there were icicles hanging down from the ceiling sporadically. Anna had no idea what her sister's living quarters looked like underneath the ice and snow - she hadn't missed the snow piles on the floor, looking like they'd been swept as far out of the way as they could get - but this was... _amazing_.

In the midst of the beauty stood Elsa herself, looking like it was taking everything she had not to dash past Anna and sprint out the door.

Having not gotten a good, solid look at her sister in ages, Anna's breath caught. Elsa... had grown up. She looked so much like Mama, especially with her hair bound up in a bun the way she had it, that Anna's heart hurt. The dress she was wearing - black, with dark blue highlights - suggested that she'd at least _intended _on going to the funeral, which did make Anna feel a bit better. As for why that hadn't happened... She looked around the room again, before returning her wondering gaze to her sister. She had her own suspicions, but needed to actually hear it. "Elsa? What... What **is** all this?"

Elsa fidgeted uncomfortably. "I..." She hugged herself, looking miserable.

Drawn by her sister's obvious distress, Anna took a step closer. Elsa took a corresponding step backward, briefly freeing up one hand to hold it up in a pleading manner. "Stay- stay over there... please." There was more than a touch of panic in her expression, which made listening to her very difficult. A biting cold wind sprang up from nowhere, making Anna shiver.

Elsa noticed. "Anna..."

"I'm not leaving." She wasn't even going to let Elsa entertain the notion. "Where did all this _come _from?" she demanded, sweeping her arm out to indicate their wintery surroundings. It may not have been summer, but it still hadn't snowed in over a month. Elsa couldn't have collected the snow from anywhere, and even if she had, it would have melted by now.

There was a long silence, filled only by the increasingly cold wind. Then, finally, barely audible over that, came, "...from me."

Despite having begun to suspect something like that, it still caught Anna by surprise. "But... how?" She moved closer, if only so she could better hear the answer over the rising wind.

Elsa backed up again, drawing closer to a frost- and ice-covered wall. "I... I have... powers." She obviously didn't want to be having this conversation.

Anna felt a little bad about pushing the matter, but she had, and there was no going back now. "You mean like... magic?"

"...yes..."

_I told you, Anna: the world is full of magic, if you know where to look for it._

"Well, I didn't know to look _here_," she muttered, the sound swallowed up by the wind. Elsa didn't seem to notice. She shook her head, advancing further. Elsa kept backing away until she hit the wall. "How long has this been going on?" A pause. "And why didn't anyone ever _tell _me?" Because if this was the reason Elsa shut herself away, then obviously, at least _some _people had known: her parents, Kai, Gerda, at least some of the servants and guards... All the people who lived in the palace and could be considered at least somewhat important.

Except for her.

She hadn't stopped moving, and Elsa was getting more agitated with every step. "Stay away from me!" she finally begged. "I don't want to hurt you again!"

That did make Anna stop mid-step, if only from sheer confusion. "Hurt me 'again'?" she echoed, frowning. "You've never hurt me before." Except by years of neglect, but that was a discussion for later.

There were icy trails forming on Elsa's cheeks; she was crying, Anna realized. It was getting harder and harder not to ignore Elsa's wishes and gather her up into the hug to end all hugs. "Y-yes, I have," her sister sobbed out. "You don't remember... You knew about my powers, when we were children. I was born with them. You always wanted me to 'do the magic'. You loved it so..." She took a steadying breath. "You woke me up one night, wanting to play. The sky was awake, so you were, too. It was too late to go outside, so we went down to the ballroom. We played in the snow, slid across the ice, and made a snowman. We _always _made a snowman." The words were tumbling from her, now, ten years of wanting to explain to her sister why she had to shut her out all coming out at once.

Anna was listening, barely aware of a dull throb growing in her head. "That's right... Olaf," she said. "I remember... I loved Olaf!"

Elsa smiled. It was brief, but undeniably there, and the wind lessened. "I know. You were always so _adorable _playing with him. Then..." She shivered, hugging herself tighter. "Then you started jumping from snow piles I conjured up for you, onto new ones. But they kept getting higher, and you started going faster... I told you to slow down, but you didn't hear me, and then I slipped... I'd never slipped on my ice, before. It was too late to stop you, or make you a landing pile, but I had to try _something_..." She swallowed hard. "...and I hit you in the head with an ice blast."

Anna stared, dumbfounded. How could she not remember _this_? "My hair...?"

Elsa nodded shakily. "I saw it turn white, right from where I'd hit you. You were laying so still and cold... I started screaming for Mama and Papa. I didn't mean to... I swear, I'm so sorry..."

"It's not your fault." The statement was as instinctive as it was certain. "It was just an accident." The ache in her head was becoming distracting. She rubbed at the spot where it seemed to be centered, near her white streak, as she remembered something else. "I dreamed I got kissed by a troll." Even though everyone had _told _her she'd been born with it. Had _lied _to her. Everyone but Mara... and Elsa, who'd chosen instead not to talk to her at all. Or had been to afraid to, anyway.

"That's... actually not far from the truth," Elsa admitted. "Papa found an old map in a book, and we took you to the trolls. You... You were barely breathing, by then. The troll chief saved you, but had to take all magic, all _memory _of magic, from your mind to do it. He showed me... what could happen if I didn't gain control of my powers." She didn't elaborate, but shuddered violently, giving Anna a fair idea of what she meant. "Papa closed the gates, reduced the staff, so there would be fewer people around that I could hurt..."

"...and separated us," Anna finished in a whisper.

Elsa shouldn't have been able to hear it, but nodded like she had. Not that it would have been hard to guess what she'd say. "I couldn't - I _**couldn't! **_- risk hurting you again."

Anna was stricken by a horror of her own. "And every time I came to your door... I kept asking..."

"You didn't know," Elsa insisted. Even then, after everything, trying to ease her sister's pain. "You _couldn't _have known; we made sure of that." She sniffled. "You don't know... how much it meant to me, that you kept coming back, no matter how many times I sent you away, that you never gave up... on me."

Because she'd given up on herself, Anna realized, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with Elsa's magic. What would have happened if she hadn't forced Elsa to let her in? The pain in her head flared-

/"Do the magic, do the magic!"

"Are you ready?"/

-but she ignored it as best she could. She could worry about that later; Elsa needed her **now**. "Of course I didn't. How _could _I? You're my sister."

Elsa was shaking her head. "I was supposed to get control of my powers, but it only got worse, and worse... I can't make it stop, anymore!"

How was she supposed to fix this? She felt a sudden, brief empathy for Mama and Papa, who'd had to deal with that helpless feeling for years.

_And obviously failed to do so._

"How can I help?" she asked reflexively.

"You _can't_!" Elsa insisted, the wind intensifying so sharply it nearly knocked Anna down. "No one can! Do you think Mama and Papa didn't try?! They..." She slammed one fist into the wall, ice spreading out from the point of impact. Despite everything, Anna felt a brief moment of wonder. "You don't... You don't understand, do you? It's my fault."

"What are you-?"

"_I could have saved them_!" Elsa screamed, snow mixing in with the howling wind. "If I'd been there... If I'd had control..." The wind abruptly stopped, snowflakes hanging suspended in mid-air. Anna, who had been leaning into it to maintain her balance, nearly fell over. "...I could have saved them," Elsa whispered, voice hollow. "It's all my fault."

_Saltwater isn't all that easy to freeze._

"Mara's right," Anna insisted. At Elsa blank look, she realized her mistake, and repeated, "Saltwater's not all that easy to freeze."

That elicited a bitter laugh from her sister. "I could have done it. It wouldn't even have been hard. But I was too afraid to go with them. Too busy thinking of _myself_."

"More like everyone _but _yourself, from what you've been telling me," Anna objected.

Elsa didn't argue with the correction, but didn't seem to care, either. "What kind of mon-"

"Don't!" Anna's already fragile self-control snapped, and she lunged forward the remaining few feet separating them, yanking a startled Elsa into a hug before she could stop her. "Don't you _dare _finish that sentence!"

Elsa froze in place for a long moment, then began trying to squirm out of her sister's embrace. "L-let go... You have to-"

"No!" Anna tightened her grip. "Not again!" She didn't even care that the blizzard had started up again. If the indoor weather signified her sister's mental state, this had to be better than the still void that had preceded it. "_None of this is your fault! _I will _**not **_stand here and let you keep blaming yourself for ANY of it! What happened when we were kids was an accident, and as much my fault as yours, if not more so!"

"But-"

"And you _**couldn't **_have known what would happen to Mama and Papa!" she continued, completely ignoring her sister's attempted interruption. "Do you think the crew didn't know what they were doing? If _they _were caught off-guard by this, what makes you think _you _would have had time to react? You might have died, too, and then... Then I'd..." She wouldn't have been _alone_, exactly, as Mara would still have been there... But having to bury Elsa as well as her parents, all at the same time...

That would have been just too much for her to handle.

And forget about her having to become _Queen _after that...

"Please..."

"They were wrong, Elsa," she declared. "They _never _should have split us up." She was abruptly certain of it, though she couldn't have explained why.

"They... They wanted me to spend some time with you," Elsa confided, not fighting Anna's embrace anymore, but not returning it, either. "I couldn't risk it, though... I didn't have any control..."

"But you _did _at one point, right?" Anna pressed. "Before the accident, did you ever have any trouble?"

"Well... No, but..."

"Don't _you _understand? They never should have taken me away from you; that's when everything began going wrong."

She'd had Mara. Elsa... had been all alone, swallowed up by her fear.

Slowly convincing herself that she was a monster.

Anna felt ashamed of herself for her earlier self-centered thoughts, for not trying harder to get through to Elsa.

For not _being _there.

"Well, I'm here now," she declared, as much to herself as to Elsa. "And I'm not leaving you alone again."

"How can you...?"

"I _**love **_you, Elsa!" By this point, she needed to shout to be heard over the wind. "You are my _sister_, and I love you, and I'm sorry I didn't try harder over the years to make sure you knew that! Because it's _**always **_been true!"

Three things happened at the same time:

1) The ice storm just... stopped, as if it had never been there at all.

2) Elsa let out a loud sob and threw her arms around her sister, hugging her as tightly as she could manage.

and 3) Elsa's maneuver sent them crashing painfully to their knees, but neither noticed as they landed on the suddenly, inexplicably dry rug.

Anna simply held Elsa as she cried, comforting her as best she could while relishing the feeling of hugging her sister for the first time in about ten years. (Mara, thankfully, did not chime in with the _exact _length of time.) She didn't even bother trying to keep track of how long they sat like that as Elsa cried herself out. It must have been a while, though, as she was feeling sore from holding the slightly awkward position, and her back needed to be straightened in the _worst _way by the time Elsa's sobs began tapering off. She shifted slightly, rewarded by a loud series of pops... and froze as she opened her eyes, taking a good look around at her sister's bedroom.

Her sister's now _ice-free _bedroom. "What the...?" There weren't even puddles from melted snow on the floor.

Elsa, sniffling, looked up to see what had caught her sister's attention... and froze in surprise. "I... What...?"

Having no real idea what had happened, Anna simply shrugged and smiled warmly at her. "I told you they never should have split us up," she said simply.

Elsa, speechless, slowly smiled in return.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: _Frozen _and all recognizable characters are owned by Disney. (Though I'm pretty sure you all knew that, already. ^_^ )

Summary: Rather than talking to paintings, after Elsa shut her out, Anna took to playing with her invisible friend, Mara. Only, as she grew up, Mara didn't go away.

Author's Note: In answer to those of you wondering if, now that Anna knows Elsa's secret and is helping her deal with it, the story's just about over... No. Oh, my goodness, no. Not even close. :)

* * *

Waking up the next morning proved to be an... interesting affair.

Anna couldn't remember if she'd dreamed anything. She supposed she must have, she'd heard that dreaming was a normal part of the sleep cycle that happened to everyone. Everyone but her, it seemed like - she could barely _ever _remembered any of hers. She didn't feel quite as refreshed as she usually did, but knew that was mainly due to how emotionally wrung out she'd been by the end of the day, as well as the fact that she'd woken up so early the sun wasn't even clearing the horizon, yet. She began to stretch... then froze, as her limbs bumped into a surprisingly solid mass clinging to her.

It took her brain a moment to wake up enough to remember why, then she smiled.

She and Elsa had wound up walking late into the night about, well, everything. They had ten years to catch up on, after all. Even a few hours wouldn't be enough time to cover everything they'd missed. Elsa had even requested dinner for the both of them to be brought to her chambers, not feeling up to facing more people than she absolutely had to. Anna hadn't felt like sharing her sister, yet, so she'd been fine with that. (Mara had been staying quiet, letting the sisters bond.) Even after their dishes had been taken away, she hadn't wanted to leave, and suspected she'd ended up falling asleep leaning against Elsa. Her sister must not have felt up to either waking her up or getting the two of them changed for bed, as she'd simply thrown a blanket over the both of them and called it a night.

She'd _stayed_, though. More to the point, she'd let _Anna _stay. The younger princess still had trouble believing it, despite her sister's warm breath tickling her neck. As if aware of her thoughts, Elsa let out a quiet noise, burrowing her face closer... and jerked back in surprise as she was hit by a potent bolt of static electricity. She blinked at Anna in sleepy bewilderment, the few strands of hair that had escaped her bun during the night standing upright.

Anna sighed quietly, reaching up... Yep, sure enough, her braids had come partially undone, turning her hair into a frizzy halo around her head. She started to speak, paused, cleared her throat, and tried again. "Sorry about that," she muttered, rubbing at her eyes. "I'm dangerous in the mornings." It hit her, a moment later, that being dangerous really was _not _something she should be even joking about with Elsa, yet, but her sister either knew better than to take it too seriously, or hadn't woken up enough to understand what she'd said.

"Don't worry about it," Elsa insisted as she swallowed a yawn. "I think it's my fault that it's so dry in here, don't you?" she asked, smiling just a little.

Smiling. Elsa was _smiling_. It was small, but definitely there. She wished Mama and Papa could see it.

_Indeed. You did more in the space of a few hours than they did in ten years._

That hadn't actually been what she'd meant... Though, thinking about it, she had, hadn't she? Her parents, their servants, maybe even that doctor... They'd all failed to help Elsa, over and over. Yet she, the Useless Spare, had done what none of them could do.

She smiled. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

Elsa sighed, sitting up on the bed and losing her smile. She didn't push Anna away, though. "A number of meetings, I should think. I also need to go over matters with the Prime Minister. I won't need to meet with the Council, since you already took care of that for me - thank you for that, by the way - but I have a number of forms to fill out, papers to sign..." She grimaced. "...and official condolence messages to read."

Thinking about all that threatened to depress even Anna... but no! No, she would not allow that. "I think I can talk my tutors into cancelling lessons for a day or two so I can help you out with all that," she said, giving Elsa's hand a squeeze.

Elsa had a look on her face that Anna had begun becoming familiar with as they'd talked last night: that of someone afraid to believe she might be able to have something she wanted, but unable to stop wanting it all the same. "But-" she began.

"No," Anna interrupted. "It's okay. It would only be for a day or two, after all. Even after that, though, you should plan on seeing a lot of me. Maybe you could even come to meals." She smiled. Maybe she and Elsa had outgrown their old childhood games, but that didn't mean they couldn't find anything fun to do together. She made a mental note to discuss the matter with Mara later. "And don't worry, even there, it won't be much more than just the two of us."

"I think... I might be able to handle that," Elsa said slowly. "But you need to understand something. I may have started figuring out how to make my ice go away last night, but that isn't the same as being in control. If I'm having a bad day and tell you to stay back, I _need _you to listen to me."

Anna nodded. She didn't like it, but if she had a good, honest reason why - especially one as serious as that - she could do it. "I'll stay out of your rooms if I have to, but don't expect me to go away again." She'd talked to Elsa from the other side of a door for ten years, after all. Now that she knew to be careful to avoid certain topics, she _knew _she could help her sister all the more.

Elsa looked relieved. "That's fair." She looked at the window, where the sun was slowly creeping over the horizon. "Why don't you go wash up and get dressed, then meet me downstairs for breakfast?"

Anna blinked, then let out an excited squeal and gave Elsa a big hug. "You're on!" she declared, letting go and dashing for the door so abruptly Elsa had to brace herself against the mattress to avoid losing her balance. Anna heard her sister chuckling fondly behind her, and her own smile only grew.

* * *

"You're being awfully quiet," Anna observed as she finished re-braiding her hair. She'd selected a soft yellow dress with a black top and white blouse under it. (She'd decided, as much as she loved it, she couldn't wear green _all _the time.)

_You and your sister had a lot to catch up on,_ Mara replied. _I didn't want to interrupt. Besides, it's hard for three people to have a conversation that only two can hear._

Anna snorted. "Well, thank you for that. I just don't want you to start thinking I'm going to ignore you, now."

Anna's reflection blurred, then was replaced by a young woman with dark eyes and a mass of untamed, inky black curls spilling down her back and over her shoulders, falling to about mid-chest. Anna raised an eyebrow. Not so much about what Mara was doing - this wasn't the first time she'd pulled that trick with a mirror; she didn't do it a lot, since talking to your invisible friend was one thing, while addressing a real, solid object made it too tempting for people to try and "prove" Mara wasn't real - but what she was _wearing_: namely, the same dress Anna had worn to the funeral.

She very nearly started crying again as she thought it. She hadn't worked through her grief yet, after all, so much as it had been forced aside by the complicated mess of emotion that had come from beginning to reconnect with Elsa. Still, with Mara _and _Elsa to lean on, she knew she'd be okay, in time.

Mara shrugged, knowing, as always, what was on Anna's mind. (She'd said more than once that Anna didn't really need to speak to her _aloud_, if she didn't want to have to be explaining herself to everyone all the time, but that seemed too much like admitting she wasn't a real person. The more her parents had tried to get her to accept that, the more she'd believed the opposite.) "It seemed appropriate. Because you're right; you're _not _done, yet."

Her eyes narrowed. Something about Mara's expression... "What?"

Mara hesitated, then shook her head. "I don't want to make you upset."

Anna sighed. "Please tell me? You know how I feel about people keeping things from me. I don't want to add you to that list."

Mara winced. Actually _seeing _how she reacted was always a mixed blessing. "I know. I just... don't want you to get your hopes up too much."

"Huh?"

"I know you're happy to be reconnecting with your sister, but... Well, she shut you out for ten years. I just don't want you to get hurt again."

Anna clenched her jaws, refusing to say anything until she'd worked past her initial surge of anger at anyone speaking ill of her sister. Mara, as far as she knew, was right: Elsa had hurt her for ten years due to a lack of trust, and might well do so again. From an objective perspective, it was an entirely valid concern.

Anna had never managed to be objective where her sister was concerned. "I appreciate your concern," she began.

"-but you'll just do whatever you want anyway?" Mara finished, shaking her head. "I just think you shouldn't _rush_, is all."

"I know." Anna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I won't be, I promise. I don't think Elsa will want to, either." After being isolated for so long, she would no doubt be awfully skittish around people.

"I suppose that's all I can ask." Mara's image disappeared, replaced with Anna's reflection once again. _I just worry, is all._

"I know," Anna replied, feeling some of the tension drain out of her. Disagreements with Mara, even as rare as they were, always made her feel like that. "I _do _appreciate it, you know."

_I hate it when you're in pain. You're the best friend I've ever had. _A pause. _Truthfully, you're the __**only**__ friend I've ever had._

"You're my best friend, too." Even if she did have Elsa back, now. That was still a work-in-progress, in any event.

Speaking of whom...

She gave her reflection one more glance, nodded in satisfaction, then hurried out the door.

* * *

She nearly collided with Elsa as she reached the door to the dining room.

She wasn't quite sure whether her sister had been waiting there for her, or had been working up the nerve to go in. Either way, Anna solved the dilemma by looping her arm through Elsa's and leading her inside, the elder princess allowing a quiet, nervous huff of laughter.

Gerda looked up as she entered. "Good morning, Princess Anna. You're certainly up earlier tha-" She broke off as she realized Anna wasn't alone. "Princess Elsa! I- Ah, I hadn't expected..." Her expression warred between astonishment, alarm, shock, and utter confusion.

Maybe it made her a bad person, but given everything Gerda had hidden from her, Anna found her reaction _immensely _satisfying.

Elsa snapped out of her own uncertainty, retreating into Royal Mode. "Good morning, Gerda, I will be joining my sister for breakfast this morning. Please inform the cook, then set an extra place at the table."

As the still stunned servant hurried off to carry out her orders, Elsa, looking every inch the regal monarch, sat down at the table next to her sister.

Awkward silence ensued.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: _Frozen _and all recognizable characters are owned by Disney. (Though I'm pretty sure you all knew that, already. ^_^ )

Summary: Rather than talking to paintings, after Elsa shut her out, Anna took to playing with her invisible friend, Mara. Only, as she grew up, Mara didn't go away.

* * *

_**Three Years Later**_

She was late, again.

It was all Anna could do to walk calmly down the hall, rather than breaking into a sprint. She was supposed to have been in Elsa's office at least ten minutes ago. Well, Elsa got caught up in paperwork all the time these days, right? Maybe she hadn't noticed?

She winced and walked a little faster.

Just a few years ago, she wouldn't have been fighting her natural inclination to hurry. In the time since, however, Elsa had insisted that, when she was where other people could see her, she at least give the illusion of maintaining proper decorum. It was one of the only things Elsa had _ever _asked of her, and there was a part of her that was embarrassed that she'd even needed to be _asked _to behave like the proper Princess she was _supposed _to be. As such, she'd taken to trying to give herself enough time to actually get places without rushing, and finding the best way to phrase her reasons for being late without it seeming like she was making excuses.

She'd been getting a lot of practice at the latter.

She'd also made sure to keep her discussions with Mara as private as she could manage. She had a sneaking suspicion that was at least half of what had prompted Elsa's request; Arendelle already had an heir that suffered from depression and anxiety attacks (Anna had _freaked _out the first time Elsa had one while she was around - Elsa had 'neglected to mention' that any such thing ever happened - to the point where Mara had needed to calm her down just so that she could, in turn, calm _Elsa _down), they didn't need a princess that walked around talking to voices in her head. She'd never said Mara had to go - she'd been very careful about that - just not to be _seen _doing it. It had been a reasonable enough request, and she hadn't felt like explaining Mara to anyone else, so she'd agreed.

Fortunately, Mara hadn't been offended.

Lengthy conversations were reserved for when they were alone. Elsa's presence was acceptable, but not necessarily preferred. Anna knew that her sister got a bit uncomfortable when she did that, and that, in turn, irritated Mara. Best to just avoid the whole thing whenever possible. Around other people, she did her best to limit herself to simple statements that seemed to be just thinking aloud. Quirky was acceptable for a princess, crazy was not.

Elsa didn't show up for every meal, but ever since that first awkward breakfast, she'd been doing her best to do so more and more frequently. If she couldn't make it for whatever reason - usually work-related - she at least made sure Anna knew ahead of time not to expect her. Learning how to talk to each other in an informal setting again had been a slow, lengthy process. Still, while things could even now be a bit stilted and awkward between them, they _did _talk, and read together, and, on rare occasions, even play.

That had been the most difficult part of this whole business. Elsa had taken a while to get to the point where she was even at all comfortable around other people. Physical contact had taken even longer. Getting her to relax to the point where she was able to have fun...? _Still _a work in progress. Sitting together reading was one thing. Simple things like card games or chess hadn't been _too _much harder. (Anna could often win the first, if only due to Elsa's unfamiliarity with them, but, unsurprisingly, Elsa almost always beat her at chess.) Bicycle and/or horse riding had been flatly rejected... which had actually been fine with Anna, who had trouble getting along with skittish animals like that, for some reason.

Anna hadn't yet worked up the nerve to ask Elsa to make a snowman.

Still, even if it took helping Elsa with her work, Anna made sure to spend time with her sister every day. With her coronation approaching, Elsa got frazzled more easily than ever these days. Not being completely stupid, her tutors, aware of the calming affect her younger sister had on the Queen-To-Be, had rearranged her few remaining lessons to make sure they had plenty of time together.

And they didn't even know about Elsa's powers.

That had been one of their more frequent discussions, whether or not she should reveal her powers to the kingdom - and thus, the world at large. Elsa, who had _mostly _shaken her old "Conceal, Don't Feel" mantra (that just made Anna want to hit their father), still couldn't help but want to keep it a secret. Anna, on the other hand, felt that if she revealed them in a predetermined, controlled manner, it would eliminate the risk of an accident letting it slip and blowing up in their faces. She was pretty sure Elsa didn't disagree, but was just to scared to do so, yet. There were days when, even though she didn't need to, anymore, she still wore her gloves. (Learning why she did, and where they'd originally come from, had been rather depressing.)

That was fine. Anna fully intended on doing everything in her power to help Elsa get to a point where she felt comfortable letting other people in. Which, she acknowledged ruefully, would be a lot easier if she could be on time more often.

She sighed, looking around. Seeing the coast was clear, she broke into a run.

The good news was that she didn't run into anyone else on the way to Elsa's office. (It had formerly been the King's study, but since, even three years later, thinking of her late parents still hurt, she'd taken to calling it an office once Elsa had begun making use of it.) The bad news, though, was that Elsa wasn't there, either. "I hope she's not out looking for me," she commented as she closed the door behind her. Her body was caught in an odd state where part of her was content to just let her breathing, which had picked up a little, settle back to normal, while the rest of her wanted _more_, wanted to _really _run. Some day soon, she decided, she was going to indulge that part. For now, though...

_Why would she be? _Mara asked reasonably. _She knew you were coming, and you being late isn't exactly uncommon._

"Hey!"

_Truth, and you know it._

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," she muttered, settling into Elsa's chair and studying the documents on the desk. "Let's see what we've got here... Revised trade agreement with Weaseltown-"

_Weselton._

"-with **Weaseltown**, proposal for funding of a hospital - you'd think we'd already have one - request for funding to enlarge the harbor to build additional docks... Well, that'd help with trade, I suppose. Request for-" She choked as she read the next paper. "-Elsa's hand in marriage?!"

_Well, there's something she neglected to mention._

"I..." Anna shook her head. It had taken her a while to get used to thinking of her as a real, flesh-and-blood person, rather than a voice behind a door. Her getting married was something she had trouble _conceiving _of. "She might not have seen it, yet. And if she has no intention of getting married, she might not think it was even worth mentioning."

_It's on her desk. She's seen it._

"That doesn't mean anything." Still, she began studying the other papers on the desk more carefully. A number of them were letters, indicating more active correspondence than she'd been aware Elsa had been taking part in. They didn't indicate another person was trying to court her sister.

Ten more were.

Reading through them closely, it certainly seemed like Elsa had been politely but firmly turning each person down. "How long has this been going on?" she wondered aloud, shaking her head.

_Since she came of legal age to wed, I would imagine. Young, single, heir to the throne... Every prince and noble that learned of her would begin trying to win her heart. I wonder if they were all single?_

"Mara," she chided.

_What? She'd be quite a prize. _A pause. _Both of you would, for that matter._

Anna blinked, having no real idea how to react to the idea of some random stranger wanting to marry her, sight unseen.

_That won't be happening._

As reassuring as that statement might otherwise be... Something in Mara's tone made her hesitate. She knew that, while Mara didn't say anything, she still wasn't entirely happy about having to share her with Elsa. During some of the worse days, she'd made it clear that Anna would always have her, and that she didn't really _need _anyone else. She could understand it - she was Mara's only friend, so if Anna was spending time with someone else, there wasn't exactly anything else for her to do - but still... "You know I'm not leaving you," she began.

_Would you? _Mara asked suddenly. _If you could?_

"Of course not! You've _always _been there for me! I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."

_And if you do meet a man someday that you might fall in love with? What then?_

"Well, I guess he'd better be okay with sharing me, hadn't he?"

* * *

Elsa leaned against the railing of the balcony, eyes closed, letting the refreshing breeze wash over her. She'd been reading through the various proposals she'd recieved - personal and professional - until she'd begun feeling closed in, needing an escape before she began covering the study in ice. Only knowing that she _could _do so, now, that she didn't need to just stay shut in one room (or series of rooms) had let her keep her magic in check.

She didn't know how long she'd been out there, but suspected that it had been long enough that, ironically enough, Anna would by now be waiting for her. She felt a fond exasperation as she thought of her perpetually late sister; she'd considered buying the girl a pocket watch, but somehow knew it wouldn't do any good.

Okay. She could breathe easily enough that she felt confident she wasn't going to slip into an anxiety attack. The tension hadn't gone away, exactly, but it was at least at a level she knew how to work through. She headed back inside, making her way toward her study.

It still felt so odd referring to it as hers. All her life, it had been her father's. She'd known she would inherit it one day, when she became Queen, but she should have had many more years to prepare for that.

_And what would have happened to your relationship with Anna, if you had?_

The thought drew her up short, making her pause at the door to the study. She hated to put it that way, but it was true. Chances were, if their parents hadn't died so suddenly, if Anna's patience hadn't finally snapped, causing her to force the issue then and there... Well, things between them might have deteriorated to the point where their bond would have been broken beyond any possibility of repair. Anna wouldn't have waited forever, and Elsa, her self-esteem shot to pieces, would never have tried to get her to stay.

She felt bad speaking or even thinking ill of the dead, but her father had been wrong in his approach to the situation, all those years ago. Especially where Anna had been concerned. _Though,_ she thought guiltily, _I do share the blame for that part of it._ Why, oh why, hadn't she ever followed their advice, and tried to reconnect with Anna at least a little while they'd still been alive?

Ah, well. Too late for second guessing. She could "What if?" herself to death, and it wouldn't accomplish anything. She'd lost her parents, but she had her sister back, and wouldn't be letting her go again without a fight.

Even if, some days, she was convinced Anna - and everyone else, for that matter - would be better off without her. Those were the days she needed Anna the most, needed the love and affection Anna was always more than happy to provide.

She reached out to grab the door handle... then yanked her hand back with a quiet hiss at a by-now familiar spark of static electricity. Not even her gloves, when she wore them, could keep _those _out. Clearly, Anna had already skidded her way into the study. (While her other reasons had been entirely valid, she would admit that part of it had been that, when Anna wasn't dashing about the carpeted halls, such jolts seemed to be fewer and further between.) She opened the door, then paused. Anna seemed to be in the middle of having a spirited conversation with herself, which she knew from experience actually meant she was, however politely, arguing with Mara.

Her sister's insistence on maintaining her imaginary friend for so long was as sad as it was troubling. Admittedly, Elsa could only spend so much time with her, and still didn't feel comfortable enough to have the gates opened, while Anna couldn't wander too far away from her, should Elsa need her help dealing with her anxiety or depression. It wasn't really fair to expect so much of her, but Anna always waved off her concerns, stating that it was even less fair for Elsa to have had to deal with it all on her own for so long.

"No, I... Yes, I know," Anna was saying. "Well, when would that even happen?" Elsa slowly walked through the door, shutting it quietly behind her. Anna was standing in front of the mirror hanging on the far wall - Elsa was pretty sure Papa had put it there to make sure he and Mama looked presentable when leaving, should they ever have been... enjoying each other's company in the study - glaring at her reflection. "I don't see why you're getting so worked up about this... Yes, you are! It... Okay, no... Well, obviously not. But who'd even... What?" She turned to look toward the door. "Elsa!" she exclaimed, straightening up and brushing some imaginary lint off her dress. "There you are!"

"I'm sorry I'm late," she said, walking forward to collect Anna's now-standard greeting of a bone-crushing hug. (She wondered, sometimes, if she actually _wasn't _the only one of them to have powers; Anna always seemed a lot stronger than her size and stature suggested she should be.) "I hope you weren't waiting long."

"Nah, not really," Anna said, waving it off. "I know I've kept you waiting far longer than this." Her eyes darted off to the side briefly, and her smile became slightly strained.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Again, that brief sideways glance. Anna sighed quietly, seemingly conceding to something, and added, "I was reading through the papers on your desk."

A knot of tension began forming in Elsa's stomach. "Ignore the proposals," she insisted. "That sort of thing is fairly standard among the ruling class. Honestly, if they can't even bother to actually meet me in person before they decide to try courting me, they're not worth my time."

Anna seemed to relax a little. "That's what I said... Well, it's close enough to it," she insisted, darting another look off to the side. "For future reference, though, you can tell me about the unimportant stuff like that, too. Maybe we can even laugh at some of them together," she said with a quick smile.

"Okay. And I _am _sorry. It's still... hard... sometimes, to open up about things. To remember that I _can_, now."

"Don't worry about it, it's fine." She paused. "Yes, it is!"

Elsa hesitated. "...are you _sure _you're okay?"

"Yes, I-" Anna whirled to face the mirror. "I am _not_ saying **that**!"

Elsa honestly had no idea how to react. This wasn't a situation that had ever come up, before. "If you're sure...?"

Anna drew herself up with as much dignity as she could manage. "I am. If you'll excuse me a moment, I think I'll go find Gerda and ask her to bring us some water, then we can get started." So saying, she hurried out of the study, her emerald skirt swishing as she went. Elsa sighed, shaking her head as she wondered what had gotten into her sister. She looked briefly at the mirror... and jerked her head back in surprise.

The young woman in the reflection was _NOT _her.

"I'm watching you," the stranger said flatly, her voice having a trace of an accent to it that Elsa wasn't familiar with. Her hair was solid black, an unusual color in that part of the world, and a riot of curls. "You may have had good reasons for it, but you hurt her. Badly. I will not sit idly by and let you do so again."

"What..?"

She couldn't think of anything else to say, but that seemed to be the wrong choice. The woman's surprisingly dark eyes narrowed, and her arm actually reached out _from _the mirror, grabbing hold of the front of Elsa's dress and yanking her forward, until her face smashed into the glass. "Do _not _feign ignorance of what you've done, 'your Highness'! I am warning you... I will not let you, or anyone else, hurt Anna _ever again_. Understand?" Elsa made a pained noise that was evidently taken for agreement, and she was released to fall to the floor. When she looked back up, eyes wide with fright, the other girl was gone, leaving only a bloody smear on the glass from where her nose had hit.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, trying to compose herself - and pinching her nose to stop the bleeding - before she heard footsteps hurriedly dashing toward her, and Anna was at her side. "Elsa! What the-? What happened?"

"I think... I think I owe you an apology regarding your invisible friend," she said slowly, because there was really no one else that _could _have been.

She also decided that the question of what had gotten into her sister had just taken on a far more serious meaning.


End file.
